In celebration of Black History Month, Chapman Athletics will be looking back on the Black athletes in our Hall of Fame. First up, is the barrier-breaking Emmett Ashford.
On April 11, 1966, Major League Baseball saw an African American umpire take the field to officiate a ball game for the first time ever. It just so happened that this particular umpire graduated from Chapman College (now Chapman University) in 1941.
Emmett Ashford, born in Los Angeles in 1914, took a rather unusual route to the big leagues. The young man coming off four years of service in World War II quickly found himself scrambling for work in Santa Ana. He decided to take a position at the local post office, but maintained his passion for baseball — which he grew up playing, even attempting to play semi-professionally — by picking up umpiring duties in the Santa Ana municipal softball league.
Jackie Robinson inspired countless Black athletes to pick up a glove and bat to play baseball — but his impact goes far beyond those who played the game.
Case in point: Emmett Ashford. Read More
During his 20-year professional career, his boisterous style endeared him to fans but rankled traditionalists. Read More
In recognition of Black History Month, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. continues to recognize a few of its member’s “Achievements in Every Field of Human Endeavor”. Known for his animated showmanship style of baseball umpiring, Emmett Littleton Ashford was the first African-American Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire. Ashford spent years trolling in the minor leagues awaiting his opportunity to umpire an MLB game. He persevered pursuing his dream of reaching the major leagues despite being continually passed over. Read More
Our documentary CALLED UP: The Emmett Ashford Story Project Team would like to congratulate one its members, former Dodgers GM Fred Claire, for recently being recognized by award-winning LA Times sports journalist and author Bill Plaschke as one of the great baseball minds in Los Angeles Dodgers history. Please log on to the following link read the article. Read more.
The first time Emmett Ashford stepped onto a major league ballfield was on April 11, 1966. In front of 44,468 cheering fans at Washington’s D.C. Stadium, he assumed his post at third base, donning his signature French cuff links, impeccably buffed shoes and perfectly pressed uniform. Although he didn’t see much action that day, Ashford later described his big league debut as the “thrill of his life” and an “exhilarating” experience. Read More
Fifty years ago Monday, more than 44,000 baseball fans at D.C. Stadium saw something they had never seen before. They saw a black man enforcing law and order in a Major League Baseball game. Read More
Ashford broke the color barrier for umpires in the major leagues in 1965. Now his daughter, with help from Jackie Robinson’s widow, is working to get him into the Hall. Read More
He spent 20 years as a professional umpire, baseball’s loneliest profession, passing judgment on the performances of the game’s great athletes and egos. Read More
It is with great pleasure that we include an article about one of CALLED UP’s cast members, Hall of Fame umpire Doug Harvey, courtesy of another cast member Terry Cannon of the Baseball Reliquary. Read more